Category Archives: Spinal Cord Injury Treatment

Public release date: 30-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Jim Newman newmanj@ohsu.edu 503-494-8231 Oregon Health & Science University PORTLAND, Ore. - The Food and Drug Administration today granted 510(k) clearance to a muscle and joint rehabilitation medical device developed by OHSU Scientist Dr. Paul Cordo, Ph.D., and AMES Technology, Inc. AMES is an Oregon Health & Science University spinoff company established to transform Dr. Cordo's OHSU research findings into a rehabilitation medical device for use in hospitals and clinics. Today's FDA clearance allows AMES to market and sell the device. AMES anticipates delivering the device to hospitals and clinics in early 2014. The typical patient population that possibly receive treatment with an AMES Device would include stroke victims and patients with partial injuries to the spinal cord injury patients. The AMES rehabilitation medical device uses robotic technology to assist a patient in moving the affected limb while vibrating the muscle receptors at the same time. During use, the patient's input effort and other parameters important in therapy are measured and recorded by the AMES Device and displayed to the patient as real-time visual biofeedback. The AMES Device can also perform several diagnostic tests each time a patient is … Continue reading →

A study has been published showing how injecting foetal neural cells into the damaged spinal cords of rats led to a marked regeneration of the neural pathways. According to a team from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and colleagues in the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Slovakia, once cells extracted from the foetal spinal cord were grafted on to the damaged region, links between the injected cells and existing ones developed and debilitating muscle spasms subsided. "The primary benefits were improvement in the positioning and control of paws during walking tests and suppression of muscle spasticity," said Martin Marsala, a professor in UC San Diego's department of Anesthesiology and coauthor on the paper, published in the Stem Cell Research and Therapy journal online. "We have also demonstrated that grafted neurons can develop contacts with the host neurons and, to some extent, restore the connectivity between centres, above and below the injury, which are involved in motor and sensory processing." The rats were injured three days prior to treatment, with a circular rod used to compress the L3 vertebra for 15 minutes. Damage to the L3 is associated most commonly with herniated discs and is a hot … Continue reading →

HOUSTON, May 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Defense has given a $2 million grant to support research into treatment for spinal cord injuries. The two-year, peer-reviewed grant was given to The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation and Capstone National Partners. The funding will support the Reeve Foundation's North American Clinical Trials Network, a consortium of university hospital neurosurgical and neuro-rehabilitation teams. The NACTN gathers and documents patient medical information in a data registry to better understand the body's natural course of recovery after injury; uses standardized patient assessment protocols and develops new ones; and conducts new trials of therapy for spinal cord injury. "Our goal is to bring effective treatments from the lab to the servicemen and women on our frontlines," said Dr. Robert G. Grossman, a professor of neurosurgery at The Methodist Hospital Neurological Institute who leads NACTN's investigators. "With the support of (the Defense Department) and the Reeve Foundation, our network has a unique opportunity to move safe and potentially viable treatments from the research laboratory into the clinic. This is critically important because presently there are few treatment options for these patients other than standard medical care." The Reeve Foundation said the grant will support … Continue reading →

25 May 2013 Last updated at 21:17 ET By Philippa Roxby Health reporter, BBC News Life without pain would be "incredible", says 24-year-old Justin Levene from London. "It would be nice to have a bit of variety." Three years ago, two days before his 21st birthday, Justin coughed and then collapsed with acute pain in his back and down his legs. He had suffered a herniated disc with severe nerve damage which left him in constant pain. After several years of surgical procedures, including undergoing spinal fusion, the damage to his spinal cord left him unable to walk. "After the last operation I came home to my mum's and spent several months in bed. I had to crawl upstairs and wear back braces permanently. "I couldn't lift anything heavier than a glass of water. I just wasn't doing anything - apart from a lot of origami, reading and listening to music." It occurs as a result of an accident or illness and results in communication between the brain and the body being severed, resulting in paralysis. The injury can also affect bodily functions, such as bladder and bowel control, temperature regulation, sexual function and blood pressure. Link: 'The cough that … Continue reading →

CORRECTIONby InVivo Therapeutics CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Please replace the release dated May 17, 2013 with the following corrected version due to multiple revisions. The corrected release reads: INVIVO THERAPEUTICS ANNOUNCES WEBCAST FOR ANNUAL SHAREHOLDERS MEETING TO BE HELD ON MAY 23RD InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. (NVIV), a developer of groundbreaking technologies for the treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCI) and other neurotrauma conditions, today announced that the Company will be conducting a webcast of the Annual Shareholders Meeting scheduled for Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time at the offices of Greenberg Traurig, LLP at One International Place, Boston, MA 02110. The webcast can be accessed by interested shareholders and other parties at https://eval.webex.com/eval/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=921101635. Attendees will be able to view the presentation and hear the webcast in listen-only mode. Please use shareholder when prompted for the event password. The meeting can also be accessible by telephone in listen-only mode. From the US, please dial 1-866-469-3239; from outside the US, please visit https://eval.webex.com/eval/globalcallin.php?serviceType=EC&ED=226655812&tollFree=1 to find the telephone line nearest to your country. All participants should reference Access Code 921 101 635. Slides from the meeting will be available to those viewing the webcast,and a replay of the webcast including … Continue reading →

TORONTO, May 21, 2013 /CNW/ - A scientist from Queen's University has received the 2012 Barbara Turnbull Award for Spinal Cord Research, an annual prize supported through a partnership between the Barbara Turnbull Foundation for Spinal Cord Research, Brain Canada, and the CIHR Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction. Dr. Stephen Scott, a Professor in the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences at Queen's University, received this honour in recognition of his outstanding research focused on helping Canadians who suffer the effects of spinal cord trauma and stroke. "Our Government is committed to advancing research that helps improve the health and quality of life of Canadians living with spinal cord injury," says the Honourable Steven Fletcher, Minister of State (Transport). "I offer my sincere congratulations to Dr. Scott and encourage him in his efforts to translate research findings into better treatment and health outcomes." "I am honoured and pleased to receive this prestigious award," says Dr. Scott. "It will help me provide a better understanding of how we control our movements so that we can ultimately improve mobility for people who have spinal cord injuries." Dr. Scott and his research team focus on how feedback to the primary motor … Continue reading →

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. (NVIV), a developer of groundbreaking technologies for the treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCI) and other neurotrauma conditions, today announced that an interview with InVivo Chief Executive Officer Frank Reynolds is scheduled to be aired on WBUR in Boston this morning during Morning Edition with Renee Montagne, Steve Inskeep and Bob Oakes. Morning Edition airs weekdays from 5:00 9:00am EDT, and the story will be aired at approximately 5:50am and 7:50am EDT. A recording will also be available to listeners on http://www.wbur.org. InVivo Therapeutics has pioneered a treatment that uses a biocompatible polymer-based scaffold to provide structural support to a damaged spinal cord in order to spare tissue from scarring while improving recovery and prognosis after traumatic SCI. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted two approvals to the Company. The first is for Humanitarian Use Device (HUD) designation of InVivos lead product, which the Company believes will expedite the products path to market, and the second gave the Company permission to begin a first-in-man clinical trial of the technology. WBUR is Bostons NPR news station and airs on radio station 90.9. About InVivo Therapeutics InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. is utilizing … Continue reading →

ARDSLEY, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. (ACOR) today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued U.S. Patent Application No. 8,440,703 (the 703 patent) entitled Methods of Using Sustained Release Aminopyridine Compositions. The 703 patent includes claims directed to methods of improving lower extremity function and walking and increasing walking speed in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) by administering less than 15 mg of sustained release 4-aminopyridine (dalfampridine) twice daily. The 703 patent is set to expire in 2025. This patent is eligible for listing in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Orange Book. The 703 patent is separate from the two AMPYRAmethod of use patents issued by the USPTO in 2011 and 2013 that are set to expire in 2027 and 2026, respectively. AMPYRA is approved in the United States as a treatment to improve walking in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). This was demonstrated by an improvement in walking speed. AMPYRA is known as prolonged-, modified-, or sustained-release fampridine (FAMPYRA) in some countries outside the United States. Important New Safety Information Do not take AMPYRA if you are allergic to dalfampridine (4-aminopyridine), the active ingredient in AMPYRA. Important Safety Information Do not take … Continue reading →

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 A Filipino worker confined at the Commonwealth Health Center for almost two months now due to a spinal cord injury is finally going home. Consul Edgar Tomas Q. Auxilian of the Philippine Consulate General in Guam confirmed yesterday that the request for medical repatriation of Marwin Corpuz has been approved by the Department of Foreign Affairs. He is set to board a Manila-bound plane in the early morning of Friday, May 24. The consul said that DFA approved $8,000 for Corpuz's needs, which will cover six airplane tickets plus another for the nurse who will accompany him back to the Philippine capital. Due to his back injury, Corpuz will make the trip lying down, necessitating the blocking out of six airplane seats. According to Auxilian, the $8,000 came from DFA's Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant and Workers Affairs. He wished Corpuz a speedy recovery and thanked Filipinos and other nationalities on Saipan for helping him financially and spiritually during his ordeal. Corpuz said he is relieved that he can finally return to the Philippines and seek treatment for his back injury. He also thanked the DFA, the consulate general in Guam, the United Filipino Organization, … Continue reading →

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. For many people with spinal cord injuries, the word cure is one they hesitate to say. Some follow spinal cord injury research closely; others choose not to. But one FDA-approved study upcoming from a Cambridge firm is attracting a lot of attention because it marks a major milestone in spinal cord injury research. InVivo Therapeutics Corp. CEO Frank Reynolds. Reynolds was paralyzed for eight days in 1992. (Lynn Jolicoeur/WBUR) Scaffold Study Four floors up at One Kendall Square here in Cambridge, in the labs and machine-shop-like rooms of InVivo Therapeutics Corp., CEO Frank Reynolds hopes to shake up the world of spinal cord injury research. This is our chemistry lab, he said while giving me a tour. So all of our chemical engineering is done here. Our hydrogels and scaffolds are all made right in here. So we invent, discover and make right here. One of the products InVivo makes is a tiny, sponge-like device that they call it a scaffold. The company has received FDA approval for a safety study of the scaffold. The study will be small scale just five patients. But its a big deal for another reason. It will be the first time a … Continue reading →